How to wear Dresses and Skirts Outfits in Summer: 26 ideas.
I’ve been asked many times if there’s a way to incorporate more dresses or skirts in a way that gives you more ideas for outfits. Even though an outfit with a dress is easier to pull off, it’s not that versatile as an outfit made out of two or three pieces of clothing.
I'm going to show you how to create a summer capsule wardrobe full of beautiful options based on both a skirt or a dress. I will also give you some practical styling and budget tips that will help you decide what is right for you: dresses or skirts?
Every wardrobe should be as unique as you and your life. If you’d like to make your wardrobe a stress-free resource for all your personal style needs, I would recommend taking the Wonder Wardrobe Course.
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What style of skirts and dresses should you go for?
When it comes to traditional body shapes, the pear body shape might be the most attractive to an outfit that incorporates dresses and skirts. In reality, all body types can wear any style, as long as they know how to play with their unique body proportions. I’ve explained this at length in my Body Harmony Class.
In winter you might have more options to incorporate some of your dresses in different looks using layering techniques. A long sleeve dress might be a better option than a midi one. You can wear a dress with a chunky sweater on top, or with a fine sweater, a turtleneck underneath, or even wear it with trousers.
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Summer Wear: Skirt VS Dress.
When it comes to women's outfit ideas for summer you might feel limited when you base them on skirts and dresses. The only versatility you can achieve is by matching your dresses with different shoes and accessories. Basically, you can dress it up with a pair of high heels, or you can tone it down by pairing it with flat shoes.
RELATED ARTICLE: 32 Colorful Summer Outfit Ideas 2021.
What to Search for & Budget Advice.
Another reason why I try to include fewer dresses in a summer capsule wardrobe is that it’s cheaper that way. One dress usually costs like 2 items. If you buy a new dress from an ethical brand it will cost around 120 euros. On the contrary, if you buy a top and a bottom, for 70 euros each, you’ll pay 140 euros.
Now, If I include 5 dresses, I’ll get only 5 outfits and spend 600 euros.
Or if instead of the dresses, I choose 10 separate items, let’s say 6 tops and 4 bottoms, I will get 24 outfits and spend around 700 euros.e
As you can see, the price difference is quite huge. 5 outfits for 600 euros or 24 outfits for 700 euros. So if you have a limited budget, I’d advise you to first create a nice versatile base with two-three item outfits and only then slowly start adding more dresses or jumpsuits.
When to Go for Dresses over Skirts.
There’s one exception though when I go heavy on dresses and that’s when I am working with a client that has a pear body type. As a pear body has a slim and well-defined waistline and rounded, wide hips, it’s always a challenge to find well-fitting trousers or similar items. Plus this body type is very feminine, so a skirt or a dress will perfectly complement that. Keep it in mind before shopping.
Summer Capsule Wardrobe.
I am always open to experiments, so today I’d like to give you summer outfit ideas that consist of mostly dresses. Let’s see how it works out.
I will try to find 10 dresses, 3 skirts and 5 tops that hopefully will allow me to have at least 20 fully interchangeable looks.
RELATED ARTICLE: 22 spring outfits inspired by Van Gogh’s Almond Blossom
Summer Colour Palette.
As always, I will create a colour palette for this wardrobe using the WoW Color Palettes. It will help me to stay focused when I’ll start searching for clothes and of course, make the capsule more cohesive and personal.
Instead of warm colours, I'd like to show you cold colours today. You can adapt this capsule wardrobe to your own colour typology by taking The Color Harmony Class.
I haven’t used pink for some time, so I’ll pick a couple of different shades of this color. Some blue, navy, medium grey, lavender, white to keep it fresh, black for contrast and some bright red, because I just love to combine it with this pink color.
How to use Layering for Your Summer Outfits.
For layering, I choose this short jacket and this cardigan. I think they have the perfect length. As all skirts I have here are either knee-length or midi, shorter blazers will fit better and keep the proportions well balanced.
I also choose 1 cotton sweater that looks great with all the skirts, but it can also be layered on top of a pink dress and create a pretty fun outfit.
I also included a set with a printed blouse and a skirt. It looks like a dress when worn together but gives me more versatility when I mix these items with other tops and bottoms.
Summer Outfit Shoes.
And finally, I’ve decided to add 3 pairs of shoes. I made sure that all of these looks can be worn with any of these 3 pairs because it’s important to have options and be able to make the same outfit office-appropriate or more casual or even super fancy.
RELATED ARTICLE: 28 Fall Outfits for Cool Skin Tones.
That’s it! I have to say I had lots of fun with this dress and skirts capsule wardrobe. We all love dresses so I'm always on the lookout for ways to incorporate them more in our wonder wardrobes. I hope you’ll take this example as an inspiration for your own wardrobe.
How do you increase your outfit possibilities with dresses/ skirts?
Let us know in the comments so we can all learn from each other!
More Spring-Summer Capsule Wardrobe Example
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